EXCLUSIVE: After scoring huge at the box office with its Avengers movie, Marvel is looking to explore the mythology on the small screen too. I’ve learned that Marvel’s TV division is in conversation with ABC and ABC Studios about doing a drama series in the Avengers world. I hear that the connection to the Avengers franchise would be light as the project is expected to be set in the universe and feature some of its themes and feel, but may not include any characters from Joss Whedon’s blockbuster.

I hear the project is in a nascent stage, described as “a kernel of an idea,” with a number of scenarios being explored, including a high-concept cop show. Marvel has already given the Avengers the animated treatment with Disney XD’s The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the upcoming Avengers Assemble.

Establishing a primetime foothold has been a priority for Disney-owned Marvel. The company has developed several projects for ABC Studios over the last couple of years, one of which, a Hulk series, is still in the works. Search is under way for a new writer to pen the project.

Mighty Marvel fans that we may be (Our Boss, LB, was a charter member of “The Merry Marvel Marching Society” back in the day and still brags about the “No Prize” Stan Lee sent him), the floating of this concept isn’t affecting us much. Here’s what we have to say to whomever’s in charge:

“Yo, dood, we’ve heard a lot of good ideas from the Marvel branch of the Disney family over the years and have learned the hard way that it’s the execution that counts. Make the move. Commit. Get that writer the ‘search is under way for,’ and then we’ll see.”

EDITED BY LB TO ADD: Kind of a weak ending here, it seems to me. C’mon, minions, shorter and funnier next time, got that?

They sent out a certificate, which I still have tucked away somewhere. It was signed by “Fabulous Flo” Steinberg, Stan’s secretary, who he’d made into one of the beloved bullpen characters on his editorial page. I remember feeling like I’d gotten the autograph of a genuine star.